Lighthouse

"Lighthouse"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas
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Learning to see a complete spectrum of colors in an arrangement that at first seems to only contain yellow, blue, and white - and showing it to you! Just one tiny part of my answer to the big question: "Why paint?"

The Pattern Beneath All Things

 

 "The Pattern Beneath All Things"

10 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Click to buy

I am amazed that I have no work-in-progress pictures of this one. It just kind of snuck out while I wasn't looking. 

So, here's a picture of a cow:

 

I passed this girl and her buddies every day on my post-studio decompression run. Running by the side of the highway sounds pretty dismal, but as you can see, it was anything but. And pretty peaceful - not much traffic - just me and the cows and the huge changing sky. 

Bright Breakfast

 "Bright Breakfast"

10 x 20 inches, oil on canvas
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A couple of weeks into my residency at Playa, it suddenly felt like my studio was full of paintings. How did that happen? It was the elves. I came into the studio every morning excited to see what they'd been working on overnight....

....and stopped on the way to snap heartbreaking sunrise pictures like this one! 

 

Garlic-Stuffed Olives

"Garlic-Stuffed Olives"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas
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I may have forgotten certain things when packing for my artist's residency last month, but the powers that be saw fit to sneak some random items into my luggage that came in very handy - like a jar of olives. Olives? Not exactly one of my go-to studio snacks, though I like them. 

 And I like them as painting subjects even more.   

Here's my setup, with some preparatory sketches. All three of these sketches became paintings. So you're actually getting a preview of my next two posts - click on the image to scrutinize at close range!

 

A time-lapse video of my underpainting. If you're reading this in your email, you may need to click this link to watch it:

Go Green... and Yellow!

 "A Dish of Green Olives"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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Interrupting my stream of residency paintings to post a piece from one of March's Still Life Open Studio sessions. Is it a coincidence that I'm posting this very green-and-yellow painting on the eve of the big Oregon Ducks final four basketball game (green and yellow being the U of O's school colors)? 

 Yes, it is. 😉

These two daffodils took a turn as daily sketch subjects the next morning, looking fresh and rested, even after their rigorous evening modeling session. The lemons, too. Troopers!

In Which I Make A Ruler...And a Time-Lapse Video

"Six Inches"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

Although I felt like I brought about half of my possessions to Playa, I somehow left my ruler at home. And, of course, I needed it - so I made one out of a piece of paper. And it found its way into this still life somehow....

If you had been there, you'd agree - this composition was just crying out for a tiny touch of white. Which was perfectly supplied by my homemade ruler. Touch of white, title inspiration, semi-accurate measurement - what a useful life!

I made a time-lapse video of this one - about four hours of painting condensed into two minutes. I like watching that plate pattern emerge in the last 30 seconds. Painless in hindsight.... Enjoy!

Two and Two....and Two!

 

 "Couples"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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At first, I thought this was a painting of two couples - the oranges and the pitchers, but no, there's a third pair in there: the colored papers. Ha! I even slipped that one by myself. Let's hear it for my subconscious; making artistic decisions, doing its thing.

Here's a work-in-progress:

And here's a mirror selfie that just happens to have this painting in the background - I won't lie to you and say that I snapped this pic to check my work in the mirror. I was taking a selfie to document the stunning fact that I actually took a shower and put on makeup that day. Because, you know, artist's residency. 

  

(Though I do actually find having a mirror in my studio helpful for checking my work - when I get that nagging feeling that something's not quite right with a painting, I look at it in a mirror. The problem will leap out at me. And bonus: I get reminded about personal hygiene.)

Change and Experimentation

 "Two Oranges (Blue Scrap)"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Click to bid in the online auction!

The last of my 8x8 orange paintings from Playa, and the only piece I made there that I'll be auctioning online. 

It felt good to have familiar subject matter to fall back on during my first week at the residency - in an unfamiliar studio, in an unfamiliar landscape...an unfamiliar landscape with schizophrenic weather, I might add! One morning, I wake up to a rainbow, the next, SNOW! These pictures were taken from the same spot - I was just reluctant to venture all the way out to the railing to take the second one. Can you blame me? (By the way, both shots were taken between 7 and 8 am.)

With nature in such a blatantly experimental mood, I felt inspired to try some new things myself. Here's a pencil sketch on Arches oil paper that I painted over - from memory. It's amazing how having the sketch underneath helped my recall of color details, even with the still life itself dismantled. 

I did spray-fix the graphite before painting on top. 

"Playa Vessels"

6 x 12 inches, graphite and oil paint on Arches oil paper

collection of the artist ;)

Three Oranges, One Video, One Self-Portrait Sketch, and Some Words

 

 "Three Oranges no. 3 (Pattern)"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

Click to buy

Another orange painting from Playa - and a time-lapse video of my underpainting. You can see how I tweak the position of everything just a bit at the very beginning - the best time to make changes like that, for sure! 

(If you're an email subscriber, you may need to click on this link to watch.)

Here's another of my daily sketchbook self-portraits - this one done in oils on a ground of gray gesso. When I'm using oil paint in my sketchbook, I actually prefer to paint right on the paper. Gesso, being water-based, makes the paper buckle. Paint thinners like Gamsol don't have the same effect. And, because I get a lot of questions about whether I use a special kind of sketchbook to paint in - the answer is no - it's just your garden variety sketchbook. Pentalic - this one, I think.

Figure Painting Workshop Announcement!

 "In the Gray"

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

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I'm taking a break from my slew of Playa residency blog posts to let you all know about a master class workshop I'll be teaching next month at the Conservatory for Classical Art in Edmond, Oklahoma.

It's called "The Alla Prima Figure." Three days of painting from live models, demos, and lots of talk about mixing gorgeous flesh tones. There are several spaces still available, so if you - or someone you know - are in the Oklahoma City area, please consider joining us! 

More information, and online registration here.

 This will be my fourth visit to the CCA. I love the energy there, and am really looking forward to it! 

Here I am demonstrating for a class last year:

 ...And another limited palette figure painting - done in one sitting, about three hours. Alla prima! 

Back To Basics

 "Three Oranges no. 2 (Yellow Scrap)"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

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After my initial surge of residency-ambition, I had a bit of an 'OMG, what now?' moment. We all have those, right? Well, when I have mine, I usually try to go back to basics. (Sometimes, I go shopping, but at Playa... um, not an option). And the basics for me are shapes and colors - and artificial lighting - with the added bonus that I could work on paintings like this before the sun came up...

and then step outside and take a sunrise shot like this!

 Getting up so early (ugh, yes, I'm a morning person)  has many advantages, but it tends to leave me looking like this by evening self-portrait sketch time. Looking like this - or seeing like this. Tired eyes do some crazy things!

Painting by Window Light

 "Playa Tea"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas
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As I mentioned yesterday, in the first post about my Playa residency, one of my goals was to paint with natural light on my still lives. For the past two years, I've been in a studio with very little window light - which has its advantages, but is limiting as well. Although I really enjoy composing with the dramatic shadows cast by clip-lamps, and exploring all the warm glowing colors created by halogen light bulbs, there's just something so serene about sunlight. So window light vs. artificial light is not an either-or proposition for me - I enjoy both - but having the choice? Love it! 

 Here's my setup, on a nice little ledge built above the studio heater, next to a north-facing window. I painted this one in morning light, switching to the feather painting I posted yesterday in the afternoons - an A.M. and a P.M. painting! How very impressionist of me.

Here's how this painting got started. See those gridlines on the canvas? It's a product from Masterpiece I've been trying out, and I like it! 

Of course, I was also moving onward with my daily self-portrait sketches, in the evenings when I was too tired to do much else. This one was done in a combo of water-soluble graphite and white gouache. 

 In between my morning and afternoon painting sessions, I hiked! The weather at Playa changed constantly - and rainbows were an almost-daily occurrence - though not all of them as glorious as this one. Nothing makes me feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be than seeing something like this:

The Artist Returns!

 "The Owl Feather"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$400

 Click to buy

Wow! Well - I am home from an amazing sojourn at the Playa Fellowship Residency Program, in Southeastern Oregon - and how to even begin describing the experience? The shortest possible way would be to say I made as much work in four weeks there as I would have in four months at home. But luckily, we don't have to settle for the shortest possible way - I'm planning to spend the next few weeks posting my new paintings, and writing about my time there.

So, I'll begin at the beginning - packing! Playa is in a pretty remote location - 60 miles from the nearest grocery store - so in addition to my art supplies and warmest winter-weather sweaters, I had to pack a lot of food. My car was full!

 

 Playa isn't all that far from my home in Eugene, Oregon - a 3.5 hour drive in good weather. I had a much shorter journey than many of the other residents. Here's a photo from near Willamette Pass, crossing over the Cascades

I watched the landscape slowly change, from deep snow and tall pine trees to more open vistas of scrublands and chilly blue sky.

I arrived at my destination at last - after driving right past it. This place seriously flies under the radar. Aside from being in the middle of breathtaking nowhere, it doesn't announce itself. There's a small sign, a rustic gate made of tree branches, and group of unassuming, red-roofed cottages on the edge of a huge, shallow, half-iced-over lake. The atmosphere is down-to-earth and unpretentious - the focus is on quiet, and work- time, space, introspection. And, after unpacking my many provisions with a wheel barrow between car and studio, I attempted to settle in. 

I am a relatively quiet person, used to working alone, used to structuring my own days - but when you can do absolutely anything you want to do - where do you start? I actually showed up without a clearly defined plan of what to paint - on purpose - hoping to use natural light on my setups, paint whatever I found around the place - just see what happened. 

And, in the absence of anything happening, fall back on self-portraits. From life - not photos, as I usually do.

 I made a plan to do a self-portrait sketch every day - and I did it. Here's number one, the night I arrived. I still have that glimmer of civilization in my eyes....

 And soon, still life subjects started showing up. I found this beautiful owl feather practically on my front lawn, just out for a walk in the wind and mud.

 

In this studio shot, I'm just about to begin the painting; you can see my still life on the table, in afternoon light from that west-facing window:

 

 And so it began....

New Year, New Art, New News!

"The Blue Fish"

10x10 inches, oil on canvas

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My first painting of the year! What took me so long? I could trot out my litany of excuses, but I'll simply say I've been preparing for big things coming - including an artist's residency - my very first - at Playa Summerlake. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to do nothing but paint for four weeks. With no plan going in, just to take what I find there and see what comes out of me. 

I'm thinking this will change the course of my work, temporarily if not forever. So...I'll be out of touch for a while, but will be back with a vengeance, renewed energy - watch out online students! And to all my loyal blog readers, thank you, and stay tuned for exciting things to come in a few short weeks!

A Still Life Commission

 "Membrillo and Moroccan Plate"

18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

Sold, commission piece

Sometimes that perfect piece of art is not out there waiting for you to find it, and you have to take matters into your own hands! That's what one savvy collector did recently when she commissioned me to paint this still life of quince. There's a backstory here, but first: my process!

I began with the objects she supplied me - the fruit, a jar of her homemade quince jelly, the Membrillo (a paste made of quince) and its wrapping paper, and several lovey plates and dishes in a blue-and-white color scheme - and arranged them with some additions of my own. Then I did this value study - it's about 9x12:

 The great thing about still life commissions is that the general parameters come from the client, but the inspiration is still my own. I could have made a hundred different paintings with the subjects I was presented! The quince were lovely - a fruit I've never painted before. 

Here's how this painting came together - an underpainting in sepia tones, then I blocked in the blue plate so it had time to dry before I added the pattern. The rest just flowed from there.

 This family bought a painting from me four years ago - a gift for their daughter. And this commission was a gift for another of their daughters, the Membrillo-maker herself! When I delivered the painting, I got to meet both girls, and see the older painting again, which is always a treat.  

Feeling very lucky and blessed - both to have gotten to make this piece, and to work with these amazing, art-loving people.  

Thanks for reading!

Figure Sketching in Oils

 

 "Study of A, Seated"

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

$200, free shipping in the USA

Available here

Technically, I suppose this painting is unfinished, though I consider it fully realized as an oil sketch or figure study. It's like a drawing in paint! My underpainting and process are revealed in the lower portion of the canvas and in the background, though the figure is nearly complete. Everything except the fussing and overworking! 

Here it is in the beginning stages:

This painting is being offered as part of my year-end Etsy clearance sale. Many pieces are available, some as low as $50. Check it out! 

All That Glitters

"All That Glitters"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

This painting makes me really happy. Hope it brightens your day! 

Here's a time-lapse video of me painting it. If you're an email subscriber, you may need to click on this link to check it out.

Unfurled

 

 "Unfurled" 

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

Still Life Open Studio, Holiday Edition, was a bit smaller than it might have been due to some seriously yucky weather, but those who braved the icy rain got to witness firsthand my wretched excess when it comes to ornament still life setup.  Even I had trouble deciding which of the half-dozen paintings I was seeing in the objects on the table to bring to life on canvas. But this curling ribbon kept snagging my eye - and here it is! 

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Collectors! Don't miss this opportunity to browse my paintings, new and old - come find out what I mean when i say serious end-of-the-year deals. Saturday and Sunday, 11-7, at Whitprint:

Circle Of Light

"Circle of Light"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

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One fun thing about painting Christmas balls: there's a tiny self-portrait inside each one of them! You can see it especially in the dark purple one. 

I could make a list (and check it twice): there are probably a dozen things I love about painting ornaments. This has been kind of a big year for them already, considering that I only painted ONE last year.....

I can feel it coming on, the annual stock-taking that accompanies this season. It's like a holiday for my inner statistician. How many paintings did I make this year? How many blog posts did I write? How many new Instagram followers? Blog subscribers?

Depending on how you feel about statistics, comparison, and self-judgement, either something to look forward to, or a situation requiring immediate distraction. I suggest shopping! Specifically, at the WhitPrint Holiday Show and Sale - next weekend, December 10-11th. I will be there, showing my newest (as in November's) paintings, and with a huge table covered in bargain basement holiday deals.